Dragon boat festival ドラゴンボート祭り

June 20, 2007

June 19th was the official dragon boat festival in Hong Kong. It traditionally happens on the fifth day of the fifth moon of the lunar calendar. Many know of the festival but do you know the reason for it? Here’s an excerpt from the HK government web site.

Also known as Tuen Ng Festival, commemorates the death of a popular Chinese national hero, Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in the Mi Lo River over 2,000 years ago to protest against the corrupt rulers. Legend says that as townspeople attempted to rescue him, they beat drums to scare fish away and threw dumplings into the sea to keep the fish from eating Qu Yuan’s body.

Judging by the daily headlines, the rulers (at least the ones on the mainland) haven’t changed much since then.